by Danny Loomis
“Right. They aren’t with us anymore. But their files are.” He pulled several data cubes from a pocket. “I copied everything on their files I could get, and wiped the computers clean of information. I think it’ll look like they were able to do it themselves before I got to them.”
“Virgin data,” Ian muttered fingering the cubes. “This should help pay for our trip. Thanks, Blade.”
Ian tensed, touching his chest as an uneasy feeling came over him. “Somethings up. Everyone get secured and keep quiet.” He checked his gauges and ensured the cloaking generator was working and all other power sources off. The rising whine of several attack shuttles drifted slowly by in an obvious security sweep. The slightest noise could give them away, even with the cloaking in place. Their training held as everyone remained frozen until minutes after the shuttles had passed.
“Hey, Irish. You got a problem?” Blade asked, a look of concern on his face.
“What do you mean?” Ian asked in confusion.
“Ever once in a while you start rubbing your chest. Like right now. You havin’ a heart attack or something?”
Ian snatched his hand away. “Hell, no. Just a nervous reaction, I guess.” He closed the hatch and began to power up the shuttle. “You better get back with the others. Make sure Brita’s tied down tight, will you?”
“Will do,” Blade said, and disappeared through the door into the main cabin.
Ian double-checked the passive sensors were working before liftoff. Once in the air he hugged the ground and began the slow trek to the mesa almost one hundred kilometers north. He’d feel a lot more secure inside one of the tunnels used as hangars.
Two long hours passed before Ian thankfully touched down inside their base. They were swarmed by maintenance techs and medical personnel who’d been alerted about his cargo. He anxiously watched them move the casket out the rear hatch, restraining the desire to follow. He’d done his part. Now it was up to the medics. Ian ran through the shut-down list until all systems on the shuttle were off. Exhaustedly he moved towards the exit and his waiting men. By the time he reached the hatch his shoulders had squared and a smile was on his face. Just because he felt like running in circles and screaming didn’t mean he had to drag the rest of them down.
“Good job, guys. Let’s go grab a bite before we head to de-brief.”
Once Captain Stanton saw the 50 data cubes of information they’d brought back, he told them to stand down until tomorrow morning for their de-brief. Everyone thankfully dragged themselves off to their sleeping chambers. Before leaving, Ian found out Pointy’s Pets would be back in two days time. Good name for them, he thought, dropping onto his sleeping pallet. Nothing more important at the moment than a good night’s sleep…
* * *
He is drifting above the dark plain, a breeze pushing him towards the distant hills at a walking pace. Abruptly he is there. The Guardian meets him once more at the foot of the nearest peak.
“You’re troubled, Ian. What is it?”
“I think something happening with this crystal you gave me,” he says and draws fingers across the snowflake outline on his chest. “I seem to have feelings of danger just before something happens. What’s it doing to cause that?”
The face of the Guardian looks concerned. “I have never gotten such a feeling from it. In fact it seems to be nothing more than a conduit of… That explains it, Ian. It is tapping directly into your mind. You are sensing trouble on an unconscious level before it happens, through your enhanced bio link. I feel an increased activity in it even now. You are unconsciously linking into electronic devices as they come within your range. The construct merely expands information it thinks you need to the point it reaches your conscious mind.”
“Does it have any intelligence itself?”
“Not that I have ever been able to ascertain. It tends to bond with intelligent creatures more than with anything else, but otherwise I’ve never been able to ‘feel’ anything from it. Since I am not an organic creature, that could be a hindrance for me to explore that route.” The Guardian sits down, a chair materializing as needed. “I sense you have other questions.”
“Yes. But the main one is about you. Could you tell me more about yourself?”
The Guardian looks pleased. “No one has asked that of me before. I would be glad to.”
* * *
Hours later Ian awoke, feeling more refreshed and relaxed than since he left Alamo. He clearly remembered his talk with the Guardian. Before, he’d felt a barrier kept him from fully remembering their conversations. He stroked the crystal where it now adhered to his chest, and felt a sense of acceptance that hadn’t been present before. Still two hours til breakfast. Rolling over he was asleep within minutes.
After breakfast Ian and Blade joined Captain Stanton, Elder Enforcer Yoshida and several others for their de-briefing.
“Before we start, I’d better bring you and Blade up to speed,” Stanton said. “Our attack on Brookhaven was successful, until three battlecruisers intervened. They leveled the city with a bombardment that killed everyone in it, to include the Alliance forces that still resisted us. We lost a platoon of space marines, plus several thousand Edoans who’d joined in the attack. It hurt us, but it also means three battalions of Alliance troopers are no longer around. The Council felt that was an acceptable exchange.”
Ian shook his head in disbelief. “Acceptable? That’s pretty cold-blooded, Sir.”
“Not at all,” Yoshida said. “We grieve the loss of every citizen and soldier who dies in defense of our planet. But we have also declared ourselves at total war with these invaders. What you see is the result of that declaration. Even now we have thousands of citizens making their way towards Vanport where they will attack the enemy. We are hard pressed to find all these groups and get them to coordinate their attacks with ours.”
Stanton keyed on the holograph that depicted the Orion Confederation’s sphere of influence. “Your team not only disrupted command and control at that brigade HQ you visited, the information proved extremely valuable. We got a copy of Grand Admiral Haven’s strategy. He’s trying to draw off ships and troops here to Edo and another incursion to the galactic south of our location,” he said, stabbing his finger towards the areas of concern. “His main thrust, however, will be deep into Confederation space to a planet called Eire. It seems the government there asked for assistance in throwing off the ‘yoke of oppression’ being put on them by the Confederation.”
Ian felt conflicting emotions surge up at the mention of Eire. Home, until he was in his early teens. An uprising had replaced the king and parliament with a legislature. Little more than a committee similar to how the Alliance government was run. His family had fallen into disfavor and he’d been sent to live with an uncle on New Britain.
“But more importantly to us at present is what the Alliance has planned here,” Stanton said, turning off the holo. “They’re going to launch an all-out attack in two weeks time. The start of it will be when they release nerve gas in the tunnels. It seems they have two dozen canisters available. With some large fans to blow the gas through the tunnels in our direction, they could kill anyone without a respirator for at least thirty kilometers, probably more.” There was a hissing of indrawn breath from around the table as everyone absorbed this news.
“We must ensure evidence of this is preserved,” Yoshida said. “Once we’ve destroyed these invaders, we will have to defend our decision in declaring Article twenty-two. The use of this type of weapon on civilians is prohibited, therefore it will help strengthen our legal stance.”
“I agree,” Stanton said. “Plus we need to make sure that gas isn’t released into the tunnels. Ian, I want you and Blade to get together with First Sergeant Nance and come up with a plan to destroy or capture those canisters of nerve agent.” Ian gave a short nod and glanced at Blade who had started to nervously twitch when his name was mentioned.
“How about the Edoan force?” Lieutenant Sharp asked, the only
remaining Confederation Army officer besides Captain Stanton.
“Good question,” said Stanton. “They’re gathered at the mesa waiting word to start. Soon as we have enough weapons to arm them, they’ll start their trek to Vanport.” He nodded to Louis, who had raised his hand.
“We have begun full production of small arms and ammunition. You can expect to have all five thousand of them armed with needlers in three days time. Grenade launchers and shoulder launched rockets in five days.”
Captain Stanton nodded, deep in thought. “First Sergeant Nance, you were looking into ways a force this large could carry enough supplies and ammunition to make it to Vanport on time, and undetected. What’d you come up with?”
“Grav sleds, Sir. Louis came up with an extremely small gravity generator that we attach to a door-sized platform, attach handles or ropes to it and you can tow it easily behind you. We think one per squad will be enough.”
“Excellent, Top. Enforcer Yoshida, who have you decided should lead the force?”
“Myself and one other Elder Enforcer. We will also have enforcers as platoon leaders. By breaking down into ten person squads, five squads per platoon, we will have sufficient command and control throughout the operation.”
“I understand why you want to lead your forces, Elder Enforcer, but I sorely need your counsel in the coming days. Couldn’t you send…”
Yoshida chuckled, slapping Captain Stanton on the back. “Thank you for the compliment, my friend. You haven’t needed my counsel in quite some time. However, to make you feel better, Elder Enforcer Nim will be your second in command. Since he is by far the most experienced warrior our planet has, he should suffice.”
Captain Stanton shrugged in resignation. “Alright, I guess that does it for now. Any other questions? Then let’s get to work, folks.”
ALLIANCE HEADQUARTERS, VANPORT (DAY +69):
General Lambert glared at the face on the screen, trying to keep his temper from slipping. “I realize you are in charge of the space forces, Admiral Langer. But any decision you make which affects us on Edo should be discussed with me first. Especially when it involves something serious as bombardment.”
The thin-faced admiral frowned.
“General, what I do with my forces is my business. In this case, I do admit I should have informed you of my decision, so you could have withheld your troops. If you had told us of your intentions, this entire matter could have been avoided.”
Grinding his teeth in frustration, he tried to reason with the Admiral once more. “In that case, from now on why don’t you ensure your staff contacts mine whenever something such as this is being done. I also suggest we have daily conferences so there will be no possibility of these kinds of mistakes again.”
A deeper frown creased the Admiral’s brow. “I think not, General. I have better things to do than plan your groundside campaigns for you.”
Lambert felt himself settle down as he reached a decision. “Admiral, I’m afraid I have no choice but to take over full command of this theater of operations. From now on, you will clear all decisions with me, to include your dispositions.”
Langer’s face changed from a look of shock to intense anger during the General’s short speech. “You presume too much, General. Once the Grand Admiral learns of this…”
“He already knows. Open the sealed orders he left you. I believe they are in your command file under ‘Contingency Orders’. The code to open that particular file happens to be my name. Before you say anything more, you will open that file and read it. Then call me back in fifteen minutes.” Without a further word he cut his connection, and leaned back in satisfaction. Admiral Haven had been right. He’d felt a dual leadership wouldn’t work, and had left special instructions in case things came to a head.
Fifteen minutes on the dot, Langer’s face was once more on the screen. “What are your orders, General?”
“As I stated before, we will have daily contact to inform each other of what our tasks are for that day. It can be handled through our operations officers, unless you feel it is important enough for the two of us to talk,” he said. “Ensure three of your battlecruisers are kept in a close enough orbit they can be called upon to strike the surface within thirty minutes of my order. All other dispositions I leave to you.”
Before the Admiral could respond he again cut him off. Let the weasel stew in his own juices awhile. After a couple of days he would respond better to “suggestions” rather than orders.
It hadn’t done his temper any good when he’d interviewed that nurse this morning. Being the only survivor in second brigade HQ, she’d been able to supply very little information as to what happened. Except for the bag of ears from the damnable ghost who’d been roaming almost at will throughout Vanport. The message she delivered shook him more than he’d let on. No way to put a stop to the rumors about what happened. Have to get his troops busy before this eroded their morale even more. He turned on his intercom. “Have my staff come in.”
Once everyone gathered in his office, General Lambert started with a brief summary of his assumption of overall command of the forces on and around Edo.
“Excellent, Sir,” his intel chief said. Such an ass kisser, thought Lambert. “I think this will help us achieve our goals much faster. Maybe even…”
“Shut up, Hans,” the General said. Colonel Grubert immediately subsided, a look of attentiveness on his face.
“I’ve heard rumors of small bands of Edoans starting to show up. Where are they from?”
“Outlying cities and villages, Sir,” Grubert said. “As we find them, they fight to the death rather than surrender, no matter how outnumbered they are.”
“How many have we killed so far?”
“Just a few hundred, sir.”
Lambert sighed tiredly. “Hans, we’ve had this discussion before. You will give me as near an exact number as possible when I ask for ‘how many’. If I remind you of this once more, your assistant will be taking your place. Do you understand?”
“I–I will find out immediately after this meeting, Sir,” Grubert stammered.
“Good. Operations, I asked you to provide me with names for replacement staff for second brigade. I’ve appointed Colonel Haas the new commander, which means first Brigade will have to find a new executive officer. You might relook that list of names you’ve come up with, make sure they can work easily with the Colonel.”
Lieutenant Colonel Penn gave a short nod. “Yes, General. Also, I’ve re-examined second brigade’s old HQ, and must disagree with Colonel Grubert. I think our computer files were scanned before they were wiped.”
“I’ve suspected the same, Ops. For that reason I want you to remove all of the nerve gas canisters we placed in the tunnels. They’re at risk, and can be better used in our upcoming campaign.” He turned on the large monitor screen on the wall to his left. “This is our plan for the next offensive. Basically, we’ll proceed thirty kilometers to our north and breach the tunnel complex that was spotted in that location. The nerve gas canisters will be used there. I expect this to kill everyone in the tunnels to a range of at least thirty-five kilometers.” He scrolled to another map.
“After we proceed another forty kilometers, our main attack will be staged on what we believe to be the Edoan’s main headquarters. Three battlecruisers will bombard this area with bunker buster missiles before we go in, and once we’ve secured this area we will continue to repeat it as we locate resistance.” His face turned grimmer. “I’m finished trying to achieve victory with a low rate of civilian casualties. From now on, everyone not in Alliance uniform is to be considered an enemy soldier.” Lambert called new data onto the screen.
“We’ll stick to our original timetable for our offensive, which means we commence in twelve days. Logistics, can you still support that date?”
“Yes, Sir. Although we lost a lot of supplies in the recent raid, our reserves of ammunition are excellent. Plus we still have forty Vipers and fifty-nine attack shutt
les available.”
“Excellent. Here are data cubes detailing the offensive. I want all of you back here tomorrow morning thirty minutes after breakfast, prepared to suggest changes and add more substance to it. Dismissed.”
* * *
The day after the return of Pointy’s Pets, Captain Stanton called his planning staff together to include Ian and Pointy.
“We’ve got some good news concerning our shortage of weapons, folks. It looks as if Louis was able to start up three more lines of production, which resulted in a doubling of the small arms now available.”
“What’s the rush, Sir?” Ian asked. “I thought we wouldn’t need the full amount of weapons and ammo until a week from now.”
That’s true. However, we’ve just had a new wrinkle put in the picture. Over forty thousand Edoans are headed towards Vanport, and very few of them have weapons. We need to ensure they have at least one weapon each, even if I disagree with Elder Enforcer Nim about the need for these additional forces. If they were trained, it’d be a different story. Without any training, I’m afraid they’ll be like lambs led to the slaughter.”
“I understand your worries, my friend,” Nim said. “However, we would not be able to stop them, so why not use their numbers? If we include them in our plan of attack, we can rein them in at least until they make more of an impact with their deaths.”
“Which is why I’ve called you together,” Stanton said. “I want to ensure we have the different portions of our attack coordinated as best we can. The actual start of the battle depends on what happens in space. I’ve been told by our Spy in the Sky that the attack should commence in seven days time. Any earlier, and it’ll be a blood bath for our people. Therefore I want you, Lieutenant Perry, to give me a plan on use of shuttles. Not only in one week’s time, but from now until then. We can’t plan at cross purposes among ourselves and all of a sudden realize we’ve overextended the use of our transportation.”
“Will do, Captain,” Lieutenant Perry said. “I’ll coordinate with the leaders of the ground forces, both those on the surface and tunnels.”
